History: Family: The STRASSBURGER Family: Bucks, Northampton, Lehigh, Philadelphia, Montgomery Counties, PA
Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Thera. tsh@harborside.com
USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: Printing this file within by non-commercial
individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all
notices and submitter information is included. Any other
use, including copying files to other sites requires
permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to
any other sites. We encourage links to the state and
county table of contents. http://www.usgwarchives.net/
____________________________________________________
The following is excerpted from The Strassburger Family and Allied Families
of Pennsylvania, by Ralph Beaver Strassburger, 1922, pp. 47-176.
THE STRASSBURGER FAMILY
Johann Ulrich Strassburger, a native of Germany and the earliest known
ancestor of the family of that name, was born about 1690, probably in the
province of Alsace-Lorraine. The first information concerning him is the
record of his marriage, which took place February 26, 1715, at Ober
Ingelheim, a village in the German Palatinate. The pastor of the Protestant
Evangelical Church who performed the ceremony, set down upon the church
register that Johann Ulrich Strassburger, of Ober Diebach, was united in
marriage on the 26th of February, 1715, with Maria Elizabeth, widow of
Peter Flucken. The same church records contain the information on his
second marriage to Anna Maria Hebel on 11 Feb 1738, and of all his children.
Ober Diebach is a village lying on the west bank of the Rhine, a little over
nine miles northeast of Bingen. However, it is not believed that this was
the original home of this family, as there is evidence to show that in all
probability the earlier ancestors came from, or near, the city of Strassburg,
the capital of Alsace-Lorraine.
The name Strassburger is of purely Teutonic origin and is one of that
group of family names which derived their appellation from their place of
residence. There are three general groups of family names--first, those
derived from personal names; second, those derived from a trade or pro-
fession; and, third, those derived from places where individuals lived,
whence they came, and from personal peculiarities, physical or mental. We
can quickly eliminate the first and second, and the latter part of the third
group, as the source of origin, which leaves us the place names, or those
derived from localities, as the sub-division in which this patronymic
belongs. That the place gave the name to the family and not the family to
the place, as frequently was the case, is evidenced by the fact that the
foundation of Strassburg dates back prior to the fourth century, whereas
the family names in Germany did not come into existence much before the
twelfth century.
Children of Johann Ulrich Strassburger and Maria Elizabeth Flücken:
1. Johann Adreas Strassburger, b. 19 Jan 1716, m. Catharina Rosina Kolb.
2. Charlotte Pauline Strassburger, b. 24 Apr 1718.
3. Johann Strassburger, b. 13 Nov 1719.
4. Maria Barbara Strassburger, b. 8 Jun 1721.
5. Maria Phillipina Strassburger, b. 12 Jun 1723.
6. Johann Valentin Strassburger, b. 26 May 1724.
7. Maria Rosina Strassburger, b. 4 Jun 1727.
8. Pauline Strassburger, b. 22 Jun 1737.
Children of Johann Ulrich Strassburger and Anna Maria Hebel:
9. Charlotte Margaretha Strassburger, b. 30 Jan 1739.
10. Anna Maria Elizabetha Strassburger, b. 7 Apr 1740.
Johann Andreas Strassburger, eldest son of Johann Ulrich Strassburger,
and his first wife, Maria Elizabeth (Flücken,) was born in Ober Ingelheim in
the Province of Hesse, in the Bavarian Pfalz, or Palatinate, Germany, on
19 Jan 1716. The house in which he was born, a substantial stone building
two and a half stories high, is still standing, and the other branch of the
family is still residing in that town.
The greatest exodus of Palatines to Pennsylvania occurred about the year
1740. Numerous pamphlets, letters and the like were distributed freely
throughout South Germany, setting forth the advantages to be derived from
the civil and religious liberty, and privileges for Protestants, to be
enjoyed in Penn's Colony over the sea. Being young, unmarried and no doubt
of an adventurous spirit, Johann Andreas Strassburger, in the late summer
of 1742, set sail from Rotterdam, in the ship "Loyal Judith", James Cowie,
Captain. The vessel reached Philadelphia about 1 Sep 1742, for on the
third of the month, he with the other passengers subscribed to the oath of
qualifications. Johann Andreas Strassburger signed his own name. Upon the
list made out by the captain of the vessel, the entry reads: Andrews
Strasburger, aged 25. As a matter of fact he was over twenty-six and a
half years old, but the ages of passengers, as given by the masters, were
more or less approximate.
It does not appear that he came to America with the view of settling
permanently, as we find no further record of him in this country until
twenty-five years later. His name is not found among those who took the
oath of naturalization as passed by Parliament in 1740, which required all
those foreigners who had resided in the colony or colonies upwards of seven
years to appear before the Provincial Court at Philadelphia, and upon
producing a certificate of having taken the Sacrament or Lord's Supper in
some Protestant or Reformed Church in the Province, took the oath and
repeated the declaration which entitled them to the benefits of natural
born subjects of Great Britain. This practice was continued from 1740 to 1773.
There is every evidence to show that Johann Andreas Strassburger made
but a short stay in the colony, returning to Ober Ingelheim, where he
continued to reside and where, in 1751, at the age of thirty-five, he was
married to Catherina Rosina Kolb. Two children were born to them: Christine
Strassburger, born October 2, 1751, and Johann Andreas Strassburger, born
January 24, 1754.
This marriage does not seem to have been a very congenial one, or else
having decided to return to America, he failed to win consent of his wife to
accompany him, as we find him in the fall of 1769 again setting sail from
Rotterdam in the ship "Minerva," Captain Thomas Arnott in command, bringing
with him his two children, Christine, now a young woman of eighteen, and
Johann Andreas, a lad of fifteen years.
The "Minerva" landed at Philadelphia in October, where on the 13th, he,
with the other male passengers subscribed to the Declaration and again he
signed his name to the document in a handwriting that did not vary from
that he had put to a like instrument twenty-five years before.
Very little is on record concerning Johann Andreas Strassburger after he
arrived in Pennsylvania the second time. For a year or two he seems to have
resided in or near Philadelphia, though the tradition is he settled per-
manently in Hilltown Township, Bucks County. In 1770, we find him as a
communicant of the First Reformed Church in Philadelphia. On the original
record his name appears abbreviated thus: "Joh: Andr: Strasburger."
On January 1, 1777, his daughter, Christine, was married by the Reverend
Caspar Weyberg, pastor of this church, to Alexander Smith, an Englishman,
who resided in Philadelphia. And on November 29, 1803, Elizabeth, the
daughter of Andrew and granddaughter of Johann Andreas Strassburger, was
married, by Reverend Samuel Helffenstein, to Christian Berger.
Although we find "Andreas Strasburger," (Jr.,) listed among the married
communicants of the church, at this date he was living near Allentown, Lehigh
County, Pennsylvania.
Very little is known of Christine Strassburger and her husband, Alexander
Smith. He owned during the Revolutionary War, and probably lived in, a house
on Third Street, but having espoused the cause of Great Britain, Alexander
Smith, on October 13, 1778, was attainted of high treason, and being con-
victed, in pursuance of the treason laws then in force, his house was
confiscated. After the death of Alexander and Christine Smith, in 1794,
an unsuccessful effort was made to recover his property. In September, 1791,
Christine and her children went to live with her brother, Andrew Strassburger,
who was then residing on his farm in Upper Milford Township, then Northampton,
but now Lehigh County, forty-eight miles from Philadelphia. Here they
remained until June, 1792, when they returned to Philadelphia, having made
the trip both ways in a wagon.
Alexander Smith died about November, 1793. The estate was valued at 500
pounds and an inventory and account was to be rendered to the Court before
January 17 following. Before anything else was done towards the settling of
the estate, the widow, Christine, died, so that when the inventory was finally
returned to the Court, September 10, 1794, it included the personal effects of
both Alexander Smith and his wife. The final account was not rendered until
May 24, 1803 (on file in the office of the Register of Wills, Philadelphia.)
So far we have record of but two children of Alexander and Christine
Strassburger Smith. The eldest was Emma, who married Samuel Krause, a
merchant of Philadelphia, who had business interests in South America. In
1877 they were living on Sixth Street, above Poplar, and both are buried in
Union Cemetery, at 532 Washington Ave; and Addie Smith, of whom nothing is known.
Johann Andreas Strassburger was a school teacher, and shortly after his
arrival in this country some of the leading people of Central Hilltown, Bucks
County, secured his services as a teacher, and immediately set to work to
build a schoolhouse for his own special use. He died, however, suddenly and
unexpectedly. The building was completed and took the name of Seiples
Schoolhouse. It was built of logs and had, in addition to the schoolroom,
apartments for the residence of the teacher. The location was a little to
the north of what was Yost's Mill on the old Bethlehem Road not far from the
present village of Blooming Glen. Among the many who taught here was Gideon
S. Strassburger, a great-grandson of the man for whose especial benefit it
was originally designed. The building was torn down about the close of the
Civil War, after having stood nearly one hundred years.
It is not know when nor where Johann Andreas Strassburger died. He left
no will nor were any letters of administration issued upon any estate he may
have acquired; no deeds are on records, nor does his name appear upon the
tax lists of the Province between 1769 and 1785, nor do we find him listed as
a householder in the census of 1790, all of which would seem to prove that
his death occurred shortly after his coming to this country. While it is
said that he was buried in the graveyard of the old Tohickon Church in
Rockhill Township, Bucks County, there is no record of his death appearing
upon the church books, nor is there any gravestone marking his last resting
place. Catherina Rosina Kolb, his wife, died at Ober Ingelheim, Germany,
March 15, 1771.
Children of Johann Andreas Strassburger and Catherina Rosina Kolb:
1. Christine Strassburger, born October 2, 1751, at Ober Ingelheim,
Germany; died Philadelphia, PA, 1793-1794; married January 1, 1777,
Alexander Smith, of Philadelphia, who died in 1793.
2. Johann Andreas Strassburger, Jr, born January 24, 1754, at Ober
Ingelheim, Germany; died April 25, 1825, Upper Milford Township,
Lehigh County, PA; married Eva Yeager, of Easton, PA.
Johann Andreas Strassburger, Jr, only son of Johann Andreas Strassburger
and his wife, Catherina Rosina Kolb, was born in Ober Ingelheim, Germany,
January 24, 1754. In 1769, when fifteen years of age, he accompanied his
father and only sister, Christine, to Pennsylvania. It is not known where
they resided during the lifetime of the father, but it was either in
Philadelphia or Hilltown Township, Bucks County, PA.
After the death of his father, young Strassburger was apprenticed to a
tanner, but where and under whom he learned this trade is unknown. Owing to
the many and peculiar forms under which this name appears upon the public
records, it has been very difficult to locate data concerning either the
father or the son for some years after the arrival of the family in the
Colony. So far we have been unable to find any references to Johann Andreas
Strassburger, Jr, upon any records to which we have had access, prior to
1781. In that last-named year, we find "And'w Strosberger" listed as a
"single" man, in Springfield Township, Bucks County, PA. Springfield is in
the extreme northwest part of the county, adjoining both Northampton and
Lehigh. In the same year he was married at Easton, Northampton County, by
Rev. Frederick Ernst, pastor of the Lutheran Church of that place, to Eva
Jäger, or Yeager, daughter of John Jäger and his wife Eva Elizabeth Schneider,
who were early settlers of "the Forks," as Easton was called in the early
days. The entry in the church book reads: "1781, Oct. 9, Andreas Strasberger
and Eva Jagerin." She was born in what is now Montgomery County, PA,
November 24, 1754, and died in Allentown, PA, July 16, 1835.
Johann Andreas Strassburger, Jr, or Andrew Strassburger, as he was
thereafter known, and his wife, Eva, resided in Springfield Township, Bucks
County, where he acquired several tracts of land, one of which he still held
at the time of his death. He also owned at one time a farm in Haycock Town-
ship, same county. The Bucks County tax transcripts for 1782 record:
"And'w Strasberry, Springfield Township, tan yard, eight acres of land, one
horse, and one cow;" in 1783, as "And'w Strosberger" he paid a state tax of
ten shillings; the following year we find "And'w Shasberger," tanner, paying
taxes on eight acres, one horse and two cows; in 1787 we still find "And'w
Strasberry" in Springfield Township paying taxes amounting to three shillings
and eight pence. The following year, 1788, he appears on the assessment
lists of Moore Township, Northampton County, as owner of a sawmill and
fifty-two acres of land, upon which he paid a tax of seven shillings and
six pence.
This last is evidently the year in which he removed to Upper Milford
Township, Northampton County, for we find a deed on record at Easton, dated
May 23, 1789, which recites that Andreas Strassburger, "late of Springfield
Township, Bucks County, tanner," purchased two tracts of land in Upper
Milford Township, then a part of Northampton County, containing in all two
hundred and twenty-eight acres.
On August 10 of the same year, 1789, he purchased of Johannes Dubler,
for the sum of thirty pounds, a house and lot in the town of Easton,
described in the town plot as No. 154, situated on a street "going from the
Tavern of Jacob Opp to the Bushkill Creek," and by the additional payment
of four pounds eighteen shillings and nine pence he acquired two cows, one
mare and a colt, which were on the premises.
It would seem from an examination of these early deeds that Andrew
Strassburger lived part of the time on his farm in Upper Milford and part
in his house at Easton, as on October 19 of the same year John Penn, Jr,
and John Penn, Sr, late Proprietaries of the Province, granted or confirmed
to Andrew Strassburger, "of the Town of Easton," all former Proprietary
right to this lot of ground, which is, in this later deed, described as
No. 154 and situated on the east side of Hamilton Street about sixty feet
from Bushkill Street.
He retained possession of this house and lot until September 29, 1804,
when he and his wife Eva, sold it to Jacob Mixell, of Easton, for three
hundred and seventy-five pounds.
As before stated, we find him on the assessment lists of Moore Township,
as the owner of a sawmill and fifty-two acres of land. This mill with a
house and three small tracts of land he purchased at sheriff's sale, it
being the estate of Daniel Junt, deceased. On September 9, 1789, Andrew
Strassburger sold the premises to Frederick Alderholt, of New Britain
Township, Bucks County.
The first census of the United States was taken in 1790, and among those
residing in Upper Milford, Northampton County, PA, we find the name of
Andrew Strassburger, whose household consisted of himself, a son over
sixteen and five females.
In 1812, Lehigh County was erected out of the western part of Northampton
County, and the township of Upper Milford fell into the new subdivision, and
thereafter Andrew Strassburger is designated as of Upper Milford Township,
Lehigh County. The tax returns for Upper Milford, for 1812, show the follow-
ing living within its precincts: "Andrew Straszberger," and John Strass-
burger, his son, who was then unmarried; Henry, John and Peter Engleman,
Adam Wieder, Sr, Adam Wieder, Jr, and Casper Wieder.
In February, 1817, Andrew Strassburger purchased six contiguous tracts of
land in East Penn Township, Northampton County, containing in all nearly three
hundred acres, for which he paid seven thousands dollars. His last purchase
was made in January, 1825, when he bought of Jacob Reeser and his wife, of
Upper Milford, a house and farm in Lower Mt. Bethel Township, also in
Northampton County.
Andrew Strassburger continued to buy large tracts of land, a great deal
of which lay in Bucks County. He retained most of this land until his death.
Besides acquiring this large amount of real estate, Andrew Strassburger was
interested in several public ventures in Allentown, the capital city of
Lehigh County, and he soon became a man of affairs and prominence, and was
rated one of the wealthiest men in the community. He was a member of the
first Grand Jury called to serve after the organization of the county. The
jury consisted of twenty-four members representing the different townships,
and Andrew Strassburger, tanner, was one of four chosen from Upper Milford,
one of the others being John Engleman, farmer.
He was also a director and large stockholder in the Northampton Bank, the
oldest financial institution in Lehigh County. The borough of Northampton
was incorporated into a city March 18, 1811, the name being later changed to
Allentown, and the Northampton Bank was chartered by Act of Legislature,
July 11, 1814. Directors were elected on August 12, and the following
gentlemen were chosen: Peter Dorney, Esq, John Wagner, Jacob Blumer, William
Eckert, Jacob Stein, George Schaeffer, Andreas Strassburger, John Krauss,
Peter Rhoads, Jr, Peter Ruch, Stephen Balliet, Jr, Joseph Frey, Jr, and George
Keck. Peter Rhoads was elected president and James A. Sinton cashier. The
bank began business almost immediately after its organization with a capital
of $123,375.00. The building in which it opened and, for that matter,
occupied during its entire existence, was a small two-story stone structure
which stood upon the site of the present Allentown Bank. The affairs of the
Northampton Bank were prosperous and uneventful until about 1843, when the
then president, through his bad management, brought about his failure.
At the time of his death, Andrew Strassburger had stock in the Bank of
North America, Bank of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Bank, Easton Bank and
Reading Bank.
Andrew Strassburger died April 27, 1825, on his farm in Upper Milford
and was buried in the graveyard of the Reformed Church at Zionsville, in the
same township, of which congregation he and his wife were no doubt communi-
cants, although she was born and reared a Lutheran. Despite the fact that he
was possessed of so much real estate, bank stock, mortgages, bonds, etc., he
neglected to make a will, and so upon his death his estate, valued at over
$60,000, was carried into the Orphans' Court and settled by the intestate laws
of the state.
On May 3, 1825, six days after his death, letters of administration were
issued to John Strassburger, eldest son, and John Engleman, son-in-law, the
widow, Eva Strassburger, renouncing. On May 16, 1825, Andrew Engleman and
Henry Seibert made an appraisement of the estate. A year later, during the
negotiations pending the settlement, John Strassburger signed a bond insuring
to his mother, Eva, her widow's dower rights. At the same time he entered
into a bond with his brother, John Andrew Strassburger, and with each of the
other heirs individually.
Two years later, John Strassburger presented to the judges of the Orphans'
Court of Lehigh County a petition that the Court would partition the real
estate, lying in Lehigh and Northampton Counties, among the heirs. This
document names all the children and grandchildren of Andrew and Eva Strass-
burger. At the same time John Andrew Strassburger, the second son, made a
similar petition to the Orphans' Court at Doylestown, asking that the
partition be made of such lands as lay within the bounds of Bucks County, as
he had been appointed administrator of such estate as lay within the juris-
diction of that Court.
In pursuance of the petition, the Court of Lehigh County named twelve
neighbors and friends, "free, honest and lawful men," who, on the 2nd of
January, 1827, visited the lands and tenements in question and made a
valuation and partition of the various tracts. This partition, however, did
not meet with the approval of the heirs, who all refused to accept it,
whereupon the Court, on February 2, 1827, ordered the estate sold.
On December 4, 1826, John Strassburger and John Engleman had rendered the
first account of their administration. Exceptions to the account were filed
by Christian Berger, one of the sons-in-law, who had married Elizabeth, the
eldest daughter. She died leaving no children. He then married her sister,
Hannah, and thus there was some question as to Christian's exact share of the
estate.
In the meantime, the lands, including a house and lot in Allentown, were
advertised for sale and disposed of as purchasers presented themselves.
The administrators rendered a second account in September of 1827. The
final account was filed with the Court July 29, 1830.
After the death of her husband and the sale of the homestead and farm in
Upper Milford, Eva Strassburger removed to the Borough of Northampton, or
Allentown, as it was later called, where she purchased a house and lot on the
north side of Union Street. On the southeast corner of Union and Lehigh
Streets stood a large frame building owned and occupied by her eldest son,
John Strassburger. This building was later remodeled and used as a hotel
until very recently. Union Street lies along the side of the hill upon which
Allentown stands, and Lehigh Street takes a sharp decline at this point,
running down to the Little Lehigh River, which it crosses by means of a low
wooden bridge. In the angle formed by the river and street lay a tract of
land which Andrew Strassburger had purchased in 1823, and which his admin-
istrators sold to John Nunnemacher in 1827. It is quite likely that the
house owned and occupied by Eva Strassburger, and in which she died, was
situated somewhere in this immediate neighborhood.
Several mistakes have occurred both as to the date of birth of Eva (Yeager)
Strassburger and her age at the time of death. According to the record of
baptism appearing upon the register of the New Hanover Lutheran Church, in
Montgomery County, she was born November 24, 1754, and baptized December 25,
following; while the tombstone inscription states she was born in September,
1752 and died July 16, 1835, aged 82 years, 10 months and 15 days. Assuming
that the baptismal register is correct, as we have no authentic family record
to confirm the tombstone inscription, Eva Strassburger died at the age of 80
years, 7 months and 22 days. The following notice of her death appeared in
the "Republikaner," a German newspaper published in Allentown, under the date
of Jul 23, 1835: "Died last Thursday afternoon, in this town, of dropsy,
Mrs. Eva Strassburger, widow of the late Andreas Strassburger, aged 81 years
10 months and 15 days. On last Sunday occurred her burial when Rev. Jaeger
preached a powerful sermon."
Rev. John Yeager, pastor of the St. Paul's Lutheran Church at Allentown,
of whose congregation she was a member, but who was in no way related, entered
upon his private docket the following: "Buried July 16, 1835, Eva Strass-
burger, aged 81.10.15."
Besides holding a number of shares in the Northampton Bank, which had
come to her as part of her husband's estate, Eva Strassburger had purchased
considerable stock in the Water Works, when that project was brought before
the people. Prior to 1829 all the drinking water of the borough was obtained
from three or four deep wells, as the majority of the people could not afford
the cost of digging to the necessary depth of one hundred feet or more. Most
of the water was hauled by teams from the Jordon, or Little Lehigh, and
peddled about the town. Some of the residents of the borough, seeing the
importance of obtaining a good water supply, took measures to bring about the
desired result. An act of Legislature authorizing the organization of a
water company was approved February 13, 1816, but it was not until 1825 that
anything definite was accomplished. On March 25 of that year commissioners
were appointed to effect the raising of stock, and subscriptions were placed
at $10.00 per share, and among the first subscribers was John Strassburger,
her son, who took ten shares. Later lists have not been preserved, but by
1829 there were 1029 subscribers. The organization was known as Northampton
Water Company, and they used the water from a spring near the Little Lehigh,
since called Silver or Crystal Spring. Some time prior to her death, Eva had
acquired a number of shares in this company. An inventory and appraisement
of her goods and chattels made July 23, 1835, shows that her entire estate
was valued at $8,246.15. Among the personal articles mentioned was a German
Family Bible. Unfortunately, it is not known what became of this book, nor
what was the final disposition of the large chest and eight-day clock named
among her personal belongings.
As the will, or codicil, directed that the house and lot on Union Street
should be sold, John Rice, as executor, disposed of the premises to one
Joseph Seider for $950.00. A final account of the stewardship was rendered
to the Register of Wills by the executor, April 17, 1837, and the settlement
of the estate of Eva Strassburger was closed.
Eva Strassburger was buried beside her husband, Andrew, and their daughter
Anna Christina, wife of Adam Wieder, who had died two years before the father.
Children of John Andrew Strassburger and Eva Yeager:
1. Catherine Strassburger, born Jul 23, 1784, Upper Milford Township,
Lehigh Co, PA; died January 28, 1864; married first, Christian Young,
who died in Berks County, PA, before December, 1835; married second,
Jacob Hartzell. Children:
i. Joseph Young, born December 31, 1812; died January 2, 1889;
married Hannah Blumer. Children: E. B. Young, born
September 6, 1836; died December 30, 1879; married Mary ___.
Resided in Allentown. Issue: Annie E. Young, born July 1,
1861; died September 21, 1880. Harry J. Young, born
September 6, 1862; died June 16, 1882. E. B. Young was a
soldier in the Civil War and a Grand Army Post in Allentown
was named for him.
ii. William S. Young, born April 15, 1820; died December 12, 1880;
married Sarah ___, born May 20, 1821; died March 18, 1890.
They had: Charles Young; Jennie Young; Dora Young; Hannah E.
Young, who married ___ Weinsheimer; Mary M. Young, married
____ Monger; John Young, married Amanda ____.
iii. Mark S. Young, of Allentown, PA.
iv. James S. Young, of Philadelphia, PA.
v. Andrew S. Young, born March 31, 1811, at Hanover, Lehigh County,
PA; died February 15, 1848, Allentown, PA; married May 18, 1842,
Abbie Elizabeth Moore, daughter of Laommi Moore, of Morristown,
NJ. They had two sons: Frederick Rauch Young and John Edgar
Young. Andrew S. Young was a minister of the Reformed Church.
vi. Samuel S. Young.
vii. Hannah Young, married Dr. Joel Shelly, of Hereford, Berks County,
PA. Their son, Percy Y. Shelly, was a minister of the Ref Church.
viii. Mary Young, married ___ Seiger, of Allentown, PA
ix. Rebecca Young, married Hon. Edwin Albright, President Judge of
the Lehigh County Court.
x. Ebenezer Young, died at Belvidere, NJ.
2. Elizabeth Strassburger, married November 29, 1803, by Rev. Samuel
Helffenstein, D.D., of the First Reformed Church, Philadelphia, to
Christian Berger. She died in July, 1812, leaving no children. In
the fall of the same year, he married her sister, Hannah Strassburger.
3. Anna Christina Strassburger, born December 11, 1785, Upper Milford
Township, Lehigh County, PA; died January 26, 1823, married Adam
Wieder, Jr. They were members of the Great Swamp Reformed Church
of Lower Milford Township, Lehigh Co, PA, of which her brother,
Rev. John Andrew Strassburger, was at one time pastor. She was
buried in the graveyard of the Reformed Church at Zionsville, Upper
Milford Township. Children:
i. Hannah Weider, m. Thomas Egner.
ii. Caroline Wieder, married John Stahler.
iii. Eliza Wieder, married Willoby Gobel.
iv. Silas Wieder.
v. Mary Wieder.
4. John Strassburger, born February 14, 1787 in Upper Milford Township,
Lehigh County; died February 19, 1863, Allentown, PA; married Maria
Gangewere, born September 22, 1793, died March 20, 1878. Resided in
Allentown, PA. Issue:
i. Eron Strassburger, born August 5, 1814; died September 6, 1819,
aged 5 years 1 month. Buried in Frieden Hill Union church yard,
near Allentown, PA.
ii. Joseph Strassburger.
iii. Maria Strassburger.
iv. Sarah Ann Strassburger, born May 22, 1821, died June 10, 1871,
aged 50 years and 18 days; married John McLean, born Hartford,
CT, August 5, 1810; died Allentown, PA, March 7, 1883.
v. Samuel Strassburger, born May 16, 1823, died Jul 14, 1884,
Allentown, PA.
vi. Catherine Strassburger, born April 1827, died June 22, 1841,
aged 14 years, 3 months; buried 10th & Linden Streets,
Allentown, PA.
vii. Edwin Strassburger, born 1829, died October 6, 1932, buried same.
viii. Emmeline Strassburger.
5. Mary Strassburger; married February 21, 1809, Tohickon Reformed Church,
Bucks County, PA, John Engleman, of Upper Milford Township, Lehigh
County, PA. John Engleman was one of the executors of his father-in-
law's will.
6. John Andrew Strassburger, born October 3, 1796, Upper Milford Township,
Lehigh County, PA; died May 2, 1860, Perkasie, Bucks Co, PA, married
first, Catherine Stout, born November 5, 1792; died October 7, 1839.
Married second, Anna Stover (Worman).
7. Hannah Strassburger, probably the youngest child of John Andrew and
Eva Strassburger. After the death of her sister Elizabeth she married
her brother-in-law, Christian Berger, by whom she had several children.
John Andrew Strassburger, III, second son of John Andrew and Eva Yeager
Strassburger, was the third of the name in this country. He was born in Upper
Milford Township, which was then a part of Northampton County, October 3,
1796. As a youth he received the ordinary German education and assisted his
father in his trade of tanner until he reached his nineteenth year. At an
early age he felt the call to preach the Gospel, and as he advanced in years
he determined to prepare himself for the ministry. Upon making known his
wishes to his parents, he found that his father not only opposed his taking
this step, but he refused to furnish the necessary means to pursue his
studies. Trusting, however, that God, who had called him to labor in His
vineyard, would not forsake him and having the prayers and encouragement
of his mother, he left home in the year 1815, firm in belief that he would
succeed. The German Reformed Church, having at this time neither a college
nor a seminary, he was compelled to study privately, and, going to Phila-
delphia, put himself under the direction of the Reverend Samuel Helffenstein,
D.D., pastor of the First Reformed Church, the oldest church of that denom-
ination in America. The money which was required to pay his expenses
during the first few years he borrowed on his own credit from friends,
except the small amounts a sympathizing and beloved mother sent him
privately. The father, however, appears to have relented after a time, for
when his estate came to be settled in 1825 it was found that the old gentleman
had advanced to each of his children, including Andrew, the sum of $800.00,
and an old account book showed that he held bonds and notes against his son
Andrew to the amount of $1124.00 for moneys advanced to him.
The Reformed Churches, Tohickon, Indian Creek, Ridge Road and
Charleston, in Bucks County, were all under one charge, which became
vacant in 1818, and John Andrew Strassburger was elected to the
pastorate of the four churches. He was still a student and only twenty-two
years of age. He applied for a license to the Synod of the German Reformed
Church, which met that year in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and a certificate of
licensure, dated September 10, 1818, was granted to him. It is subscribed
to by Henry Hoffmeier, President, and Lewis Mayer, Secretary. On September
9, 1819, a full year after he had received this appointment, he was ordained
at Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
He entered upon his duties as pastor of the four churches on Easter of
1818, and here he lived and labored from the beginning to the end of his
ministry, a period of thirty-six years.
On September 15, 1818, six months after assuming his ministerial charge,
he was married to Catherine Stout, daughter of Henry Hartzell and Elizabeth
Kern Stout, of Hilltown Township, Bucks County. The following notice
appeared in the Doylestown Correspondent and Farmers' Advocate under date
of September 22, 1818:
"Married on the 15th Inst. by the Rev. Mr. Reller, the Rev. Mr. J. A.
Strassburger, of Rockhill Township, to Miss Catherine Stout of
Hilltown Township."
The story is told that on his journey from Philadelphia to Bucks County
to assume his duties, upon arriving in the district where he was destined to
remain the rest of his days, he met three beautiful girls, the daughters of
Henry Hartzell Stout, a prosperous landholder of the neighborhood. He was
so fascinated by one of these young ladies that within the time from Easter
to September he had courted and married her.
Rev. John Andrew Strassburger and his wife settled in Rockhill Township,
Bucks County, on a farm now part of the town of Sellersville, but after a
few years he acquired a more extensive tract of land in what is now South
Perkasie, and built a large two-story stone house in the angle formed by the
intersection of the Newtown Road with that leading from Philadelphia to
Allentown, Pennsylvania. The house stands upon an eminence in the midst
of find shade and fruit trees, the whole surrounded by a stone wall. By the
addition of a gable roof and a wide porch, which extends across the entire
front and side, and by the introduction of other improvements, the aspect of
the original building has been entirely changed.
The first record of any purchase of land by Rev. John Andrew Strassburger
is a deed dated September 13, 1825, wherein is recited that Jacob Kintner,
High Sheriff of Bucks County, on June 25, 1825, in consideration of $2575.00,
sold to John A. Strassburger a certain tract of land, containing a messuage
and eighty-two acres and twenty-five perches. This had been the property
Benjamin Rosenberger had purchased on April 2, 1810, of Henry Price and
wife, Magdalena, and it included a "Certain Water Grist Mill and tract of land
and all the utensils of said Water Grist Mill," and bounded on the lands of
Henry Kramer, Adam Nunamacker, Leonard Detweiler, Jacob Bergy and land late
of John Benner, deceased.
Benjamin Rosenberger on April 29, 1820, borrowed of the Farmers' and
Mechanics' Bank of Philadelphia $2120.00, giving as security his farm and
grist mill in Bucks County. In order to liquidate this debt to the bank, on
February 20, 1821, he sold the property to his sons, John and Jacob, for the
consideration of the debt of $2120.00 and the further sum of $6146.67.
Benjamin Rosenberger had purchased the water rights for the mill of Henry
Nunamacker and John Benner as early as November 15, 1796, subject to
the payment of the yearly rent of one shilling and six pence each. At a
later date he purchased the same right from Joseph Leatherman.
Upon the death of Benjamin Rosenberger, claims for debts were brought
against his estate, and, in order to satisfy the claimants and to pay the
judgments awarded by the Court, the property was ordered to be sold by the
Sheriff. Accordingly, Jacob Kintner, High Sheriff of the County, held a
public sale, and John Andrew Strassburger, being the highest bidder, the
entire eighty-two acres and twenty-five perches were sold to him, the
Sheriff signing the deed on September 13, 1825. This farm lay partly in
Rockhill and partly in Hilltown Townships.
Joseph Leatherman owned an adjoining farm, through which Pleasant
Spring Creek ran. On May 10, 1833, he sold to his friend, the minister, two
acres of his land, and on this same day, Rev. Strassburger purchased of his
neighbor the right to use the run for his mill.
We also find that Rev. John Andrew Strassburger, on the 6th day of April,
1826, purchased of Philip Shire, of Bedminster Township, Bucks County, for
the sum of $2030.00, a certain five acres of land which was situated in
Haycock Township, Bucks County.
In the year 1823 Thomas D. Birall, of Ontario County, New York, had
received Letters Patent from the United States for a certain improvement
which he had invented to be used on the agricultural implement for hulling
and cleaning clover seed, and about 1825 sold to John G. Griffith and William
Griffith of Bucks County, and to Daniel K. Jones, of Wayne County, New York,
the "full and exclusive right and liberty of making, constructing, using and
lending to others to be used a certain improvement in the machine for hulling
and cleaning clover seed invented by the said Thomas." On May 12, 1826,
John G. Griffith and William Griffith, in consideration of the sum of $90.00,
transferred and assigned to John Andrew Strassburger "the exclusive right and
liberty of making, constructing, using and lending to others to be used" the
said invention and improvement within the Township of Rockhill, Bucks County,
Pennsylvania, for the term of fourteen years. And on the same date he pur-
chased of Daniel K. Jones, for the sum of $40.00, all his rights in the use
of this improvement in Rockhill Township.
On April 21, 1830, Rev. John Andrew Strassburger purchased of Andrew
Heller, executor of the estate of Mary Magdalena Benner, a house or tenement,
oil mill and tract of land in Hilltown Township, which became part of the
homestead farm. Still later, he enlarged his farm by additional purchases.
During this time Rev. Strassburger was serving the four Reformed churches
under his care. Though several times pressed to take charge of larger and
wealthier congregations, he always refused to leave his own people, to whom
he became more and more attached. In the course of time he came to look upon
every member of his congregation as his disciple, whom he had either baptized
in infancy, confirmed in youth, married in manhood, visited in sickness, or
comforted at the grave of a relative.
A great sorrow had come to him in the death of his dearly beloved wife,
Catherine. During the summer of 1838 she had been taken seriously ill and
had first become blind, then deaf, then lost the sense of touch and taste.
After lingering several months in this sad condition, death finally claimed
her, and she passed away on Sunday, October 7, 1838, not yet having reached
her fortieth year, and was buried in the graveyard of Tohickon Church.
Eight children were left to mourn a beloved mother, the eldest, Nero, a
youth of nineteen, while the youngest, the father's namesake, was only five.
There had been thirteen in all, five of whom had died in infancy.
On May 8, 1839, Rev. Strassburger married Anna Stover, or Stouffer,
daughter of Jacob Stouffer and widow of David Worman, of Coventry Township,
Chester County, PA. A prenuptial agreement was entered into between the
contracting parties, the understanding being that should the Rev. Strass-
burger die first, the intended wife, as the widow, should receive only one-
ninth of his estate, and that he, on his part, released all claims to any
property which might come to her through her father.
As previously noted, Rev. Strassburger had purchased of Andrew Heller,
executor of the estate of Mary Magdalena Benner, a certain house and oil mill
and tract of land which had also been part of the Rosenberger estate. On
April 3, 1850, Mr. Strassburger and his wife, Anna, sold the greater part of
this property to Elias Herr, of Hilltown Township, who was a miller, for $3000.00.
About this time his health began to fail to such an extent that he was
constrained reluctantly to resign his pastorate, and on July 15, 1854, he
presented his resignation, after having served the same congregation for
thirty-six years during which period he had baptized about 3000 children,
confirmed 1595 catechumens, married 1235 couples and buried 1044 persons.
The notice of his resignation, having been brought before his sorrowing
people, the Consistories of the four united congregations, whom he had so
long and faithfully served, assembled in Ridge Road Church on a Saturday
afternoon of July to receive the resignation.
The eldest son, Nero, had entered the ministry and at this time was
pastor of Friedensburg and other congregations of the Reformed faith in Berks
County. A committee of elders from the four congregations--Indian Creek,
Charlestown, Tohickon and Ridge Road--approached the son and requested that
he succeed his father as pastor of this charge, but for some reason he
refused, and Rev. August Dechant was nominated. Copies of the resignation
and the proceedings of this meeting were printed in both the English and the
German language and pamphlets* distributed among the members of the several churches.
His failing health also prevented Rev. Strassburger from looking after his
large business interests which he had carried on outside of his ministerial
duties, so on April 19, 1858, he sold to Samuel M. Hager, of Rockhill Town-
ship, for the sum of $3250.00, the property known as "Strassburger's Mill"
with the water right, and a tract of eight acres, lying between the two farms,
upon which he accepted a mortgage.
Death was gradually approaching; he steadily grew worse, and, while
confined to bed, he suffered no pain. Finally on Tuesday, May 2, 1860, he
fell quietly and peacefully asleep, apparently without a struggle, and was
buried on Monday, May 7, in the graveyard at Indian Creek Church, in the
presence of an unusually large number of mourning friends and relatives.
He had reached the age of 63 years 6 months and 30 days.
John Andrew Strassburger was of a mild, kind and modest disposition and
beloved and respected by all who knew him. He had a fairly large library of
both English and German books, many of which are treasured keepsakes of his
grandchildren and great-grandchildren today (1922.) That he had a love and
appreciation of music is evidenced by the fact that a musical notebook which
is still in existence, was made for him in 1824 by Charles Fortman, an early
teacher of languages and music in Norristown. In this book, prepared for
Pastor Strassburger, are ninety-one sacred and forty-one profane songs, nearly
all in German. Among the profane pieces are "Hail Columbia," "Hunting Song,"
"Harms des Alten Hannassen Sohn," "Washington's March" and "Yankee Doodle."
This book, the title of which is "Anfangs-Gründe Des general Basses (thorough
bass) für Den Ehrw. Herrn Strasburger Rockhill Tsp. Pa. by Ch Fortman,
December 1824" (Rudiments of Thorough Bass, prepared by Charles Fortman for
the Rev. Mr. Strassburger, Rockhill Township, Pa., December, 1824), is a manu-
script 11 inches by 5 3/4 inches, bound in leather, and contains 142 pages.
Another temporal characteristic of Pastor Strassburger was his fondness
for his "schnapps." On his ride from Tohickon to Indian Creek, which he took
every Sunday, he would stop at Jacoby's Hotel, which he passed on the way,
take his schnapps and then go on to preach his afternoon sermon in the
latter church.
He left no will. Letters of administration upon his estate were issued
shortly after his death to his son, Reuben Strassburger, and his son-in-law,
Elias Hartzell. On May 24 an inventory of his estate was taken by J. W. Leidy
and Amos Jacoby, and the whole appraised at $9071.89. However, as during his
lifetime he had advanced certain moneys to his wife and children, these
amounts added to the appraised value brought the estate up to a total valua-
tion of $20,052.11. In the final settlement, each heir was charged with the
sum credited to him or her, as found upon the father's books, and that sum
was deducted from one equal ninth part, or share, as the whole estate was
divided thus equally between his wife and each of the children, the second
wife, Anna, receiving just so much as was agreed upon at the time of their
marriage.
Among his personal effects was a musical clock, a piano, a galvanic
battery, and two lancets (the last named articles suggesting that at times
he ministered to bodily as well as the spiritual being of his flock,) a family
horse and carriage, and sleigh. He held stock in the Bank of Pottstown, the
Doylestown Bank, the Doylestown Insurance Company, Northampton Water Company
of Allentown, PA, Hilltown and Sellersville Turnpike Company, and the
Quakertown Turnpike Company, and the North Penn Rail Road.
On September 10, 1860, a petition signed by Anna Strassburger, the widow,
and all the sons and daughters, was presented to the Orphans' Court at
Doylestown, asking that the Court appoint Josiah W. Leidy, Amos Jacoby and
Isaac Hunsberger, previously chosen by the heirs, to act as Commissioners to
divide and value the real estate in place of a Sheriff's Inquisition, as was
the usual proceeding. The Court was pleased to grant this request, and so on
September 17, 1860, the three Commissioners made a return of their valuation
and partition, which was refused by the heirs, who then asked that the estate
be sold.
On April 1, 1861, the Administrators executed a deed transferring all the
property to Aaron Hendricks, the purchaser. This deed, the original of which
was in the possession of the late Andrew S. Strassburger, who until a few
months ago owned the farm and resided in the old homestead.
The value of the personal and movable property was placed at $9318.10,
which was added to that received from the sale of the farm, gave a sum of
$16388.47, out of which had been paid a number of small debts, amounting to
$1243.18, which left a balance of $15145.29 to be divided among the heirs.
Samuel M. Hager desiring to be relieved of the mortgage debt, held by the
estate against him, incurred when he purchased the Strassburger mill and
another tract of land, entered into an agreement with the Administrators by
which he was released of the mortgage on the second property.
By the spring of 1864, Reuben Strassburger and his brother-in-law, Elias
Hartzell, had rendered their final account, having administered the estate to
the full satisfaction of all parties concerned.
On April 6, of the last named year, the sons and daughters signed the
accompanying release, thus acknowledging that they had each received from the
Administrators their full and just proportion of their father's estate.
It was at the request and earnest solicitation of the widow, Anna, that
Reverend Strassburger was buried at Indian Creek rather than at Tohickon,
where lay his first wife. She had planned to be buried beside him, but
circumstances willed otherwise, as after his death she went to live in Chester
County, where she died and was buried beside her first husband in the old
Union Meeting Cemetery at Parkerford, Chester County. The stone over her
grave records that "Ann Strassburger, born Jul 18, 1791, died June 5, 1873,
aged 81 years, 10 mos. 16d."
Children of John Andrew Strassburger and Catherine Stout:
1. Rev. Nero S. Strassburger, born August 7, 1819, in the Reformed
Parsonage near Sellersville, and died in Allentown, June 27, 1888.
He was one of the most widely known clergymen of the Reformed
Church. He married November 9, 1818, Diana E. Dickenshied, daughter
of Charles F. and Anna Catherine (Eberhard) Dickenshied, of Lower
Milford, Lehigh County, PA. She died August 15, 1890. Reverend
Strassburger died in Allentown, PA, June 17, 1888.
2. Louisianna Strassburger, born November 24, 1820, Rockhill Township,
Bucks County, PA; died January 4, 1899; married November 10, 1839,
Elias Hartzell, son of Andrew and Margaret (Fosbenner) Hartzell, born
June 5, 1814; died January 26. 1875. Buried Indian Creek Reformed
churchyard. Issue:
i. Cornelius Hartzell, born August 14, 1840, died March, 1917,
married 1860, Elizabeth Delp and had: Elmer, Imelda, Samuel,
Kate, Frank and Elizabeth.
ii. Andrew S. Hartzell, born 20 Oct 1841, died December 2, 1911,
married Kate Derstine, died March 1897.
iii. Francis S. Hartzell, born July 28, 1843, died April 4, 1908,
unmarried.
iv. Emeline Hartzell, born November 1, 1845, died March 31, 1914,
married December 3, 1870 Jonas G. Hangey.
v. Reuben S. Hartzell, born 1848, died May 3, 1903, unmarried.
vi. Lewis S. Hartzell, born April 1851, died September 1860.
3. Gideon Strassburger, born February 26, 1822, Rockhill Township, Bucks
County, PA; died, 1872, La Crosse, Wisconsin; married Fanny Wood. He
emigrated West when a young man, locating first in Janesville, WI, later
removing to La Crosse, where he died in the latter part of 1872. He
married in the West, Miss Fanny Wood, who survived him. Their only
daughter Eleanor, born 1850, died August 27, 1868, aged 18 years.
4. Reuben Y. Strassburger, born at Bridgeton, Bucks County, PA, October 1,
1823; died August 14, 1872, Schwenksville, PA; married January 21, 1847,
Elizabeth Z. Schwenk, born September 24, 1821; died October 15, 1907.
5. A son born April 8, 1826, lived only three hours. Buried Stout's grave-
yard, Perkasie, Bucks Co, PA.
6. Elizabeth Strassburger, born February 25, 1826, at either Sellersville
or Perkasie, Bucks County; died November 9, 1880, Philadelphia, PA;
married March 12, 1846, Dr. Aaron F. Shelly, son of Francis and
Catherine (Funk) Shelly, born Great Swamp, Bucks County, February 10,
1823; died October 13, 1883, Philadephia. Issue:
i. Mary Catherine Shelly, born February 1, 1847, died April 26,
1906, married Alexander S. Heister.
ii. Rebecca K. Shelly, born Jul 3, 1854, married June 20, 1876,
Henry S. Dotterer, born February 16, 1841, died January 10, 1903.
Henry Dotterer traveled to Germany and Switzerland where he
collected data relating to the Dotterer and Strassburger families
which was used in compiling "Strassburger and Allied Families of
Pennsylvania." He and Rebecca had but one child, a son, Ralph
Shelly Dotterer, born May 26, 1878, died August 17, 1878.
iii. John Andrew Francis Shelly, died in infancy.
iv. Oliver Shelly, born May 25, 1860, died March 25, 1813, married
Minerva Catherine (Hartzell) Schober.
7. Henry Stout Strassburger, born November 2, 1827, Perkasie, PA; died
November 28, 1900, Philadelphia, PA; married September 22, 1860, by
his brother, Rev. Nero S. Strassburger, to Margaret Rae Graeff, born
October 2, 1836. Resided in Philadelphia. Issue:
i. Harry Stout Strassburger, Jr, born April 29, 1861.
ii. Frank Graeff Strassburger, born April 27, 1864.
iii. Carrie Jane Strassburger, born January 1, 1866, married
September 4, 1888, Harry Ellwood Paisley of Philadelphia.
8. A daughter, born November 21, 1829, lived 11 hours. Buried Stout's
graveyard, Perkasie, Bucks Co, PA.
9. Mary Strassburger, born December 20, 1830, died December 26, 1907;
married September 29, 1849, Jesse D. Hartzell, born Januray 5, 1827,
died February 7, 1894. Issue:
i. Milton Henry Hartzell, died in Michigan, married Priscilla
Newton of Waverly.
ii. John Andrew Hartzell, born September 20, 1851, died October 12,
1919, married October 16, 1879, Mary M. Reiff, resided in
Perkasie, PA.
iii. Francis A. Hartzell, died about 1891, married Hattie Sheetz,
of Philadelphia.
iv. Minerva C. Hartzell (deceased), married Eugene Schober.
v. Alice E. Hartzell, married John F. Stover, of Perkasie, PA.
vi. Jordan H. Hartzell, married Etta Palmer, resided in Perkasie, PA.
10. Catherine Strassburger, born November 16, 1832; died August 17, 1834.
Buried Tohickon churchyard.
11. Andrew Strassburger, born December 31, 1833; died May 23, 1895; married
September 25, 1858, by his brother Rev. Nero S. Strassburger, to
Margaret Amelia Lorah, daughter of William and Harried Lorah of
Weavertown, Berks Co, PA. Issue:
i. Elmer Lorah Strassburger, born April 21, 1861, died April 8, 1862.
ii. William Henry Strassburger, born April 3, 1863, died April 19, 1895.
iii. Harriet Catherine Strassburger, born September 13, 1865, married
Walter Roberts of Allentown.
iv. Ada Estella Strassburger, born January 30, 1868, died October 21,
1872.
v. Lorah Strassburger, born March 30, 1871, married March 30, 1895,
Emma Bailey Halloway, of Weavertown, and had issue: Catherine
Amelia Strassburger, born September 27, 1897; and Grace Halloway
Strassburger, born February 13, 1904; reside near Douglassville, PA.
vi. Mahlon Ludwig Strassburger, born September 16, 1873, married
Catherine Levan.
vii. Preston Elwood Strassburger, born March 30, 1877, died January 13,
1880.
12. Sarah Strassburger, a twin to Andrew, born December 31, 1883, died
July 15, 1834.
13. Noah Strassburger, born February 23, 1836, died Jul 11, 1836, aged
4 months and 18 days. Buried Tohickon churchyard.
Reuben Y. Strassburger, third son of Rev. John Andrew Strassburger and his
wife, Catherine Stout, was born at Bridgetown, Rockhill Township, Bucks County,
Pennsylvania, on October 1, 1823, and baptized the same year, as shown by the
baptismal records of Tohickon Reformed Church, where the name appears as
"Rubin." None of the children of Rev. John Andrew Strassburger, except the
fourth son, Henry, were given more than the one Christian name at baptism,
though the other sons assumed middle initials later in life.
When he was eight years old, Reuben was sent to school to the old Fluck's
Schoolhouse, where he generally arrived full of mischief; and later, to more
advanced institutions of learning, where he acquired an excellent education.
He wrote a scholarly Spencerian hand; his books and accounts show great skill
and are models of neatness and accuracy. He taught in his youth in the old
Octagon Schoolhouse near Perkasie, long since torn down.
Reuben Y. Strassburger married January 21, 1847, at Schwenksville, PA,
Elizabeth Ziegler Schwenk, daughter of Jacob Schwenk and his wife, Magdalena
Ziegler, who was born September 24, 1821, and died October 11, 1907. The
ceremony was performed by his father.
For the first few months after their marriage, Reuben Y. Strassburger
and his wife appear to have resided in Schwenksville, or Perkiomen (as the
village was more frequently called in those days,) in Montgomery County, PA.
That his wife had come to him well supplied with those household articles so
dear to every German bride, is made known to us by two interesting old papers
that have been preserved. Three months after their marriage, Reuben made a
list of the contents of their home, heading the paper "Elizabeth Strass-
burger's Furniture Goods, March 11, 1847." This paper being rather carelessly
written, and having some words misspelled, he rewrote it in his own fine
Spencerian hand, correcting the spelling, and dating this new paper "Perkio-
men, March 23, 1847," and designating it "Memorandum of House Furniture."
Rev. John Andrew Strassburger, during his lifetime, had given to each of
his children a generous sum of money no doubt with the view of establishing
his sons in business, or, by this means, enabling them to build or buy
suitable homes upon their marriage, and providing liberal dowers for the
daughters. Reuben, therefore, had received $1000.00, and it probably was
with this money that he bought a tract of land in Hilltown Township, where
he erected, shortly after his marriage, a large stone building to be used as
a store and warehouse, one end and the upper part of which was the residence,
this being the manner in which country stores were built and conducted. It
stands on high ground at the intersection of two highways, a long building,
two stories and a half high, to which dormer windows have since been added.
They had moved into the house and were settled before the end of the year, for
it was here, on November 28th, their oldest child, Clara Olivia, was born.
This continued to be their home for twenty years, during which time six other
children came to bless their union.
During the Civil War quantities of supplies consisting of boxes of food,
bandages, etc. were forwarded from this Hilltown home to the Union troops and
prisoners in the South. Reuben Y. Strassburger was for twenty-two years the
superintendent of the Sunday school which held its services in the Hilltown
Schoolhouse.
In 1869, he disposed of the store and house in Hilltown to a good advantage
and returned to Schwenksville, where in 1845 he had met, at a young people's
frolic, the rosy-cheeked girl who two years later became his wife. Here he
purchased a house and engaged in the coal and lumber trade with his brother-
in-law, Abraham G. Schwenk, under the firm name of Schwenk & Strassburger, and
they soon built up a most successful business.
After removal to their new home, Mr. and Mrs. Strassburger became identi-
fied with the public and religious life of the town. He was a man of sterling
integrity, of a deeply religious nature, and in politics a Republican. Both
he and his wife were members of the Indian Creek Reformed Church, of which he
was an elder for a great many years.
Elizabeth Schwenk Strassburger was a splendid Christian woman, charitable,
unassuming, never obtrusive, patient, and ever depreciating her own sacri-
fices. No one ever left her door in want. When asked why she allowed herself
to be so frequently imposed upon, she would reply, "Rather that, than I should
miss a worthy one." She had a rare personality, well educated, and most
assiduous in Bible reading; her great old-fashioned German Bible shows much
service, although she was proficient in the English language as well, and,
like her husband, excelled in penmanship.
On August 14, 1872, Reuben Y. Strassburger was accidentally killed by
falling from a car in his own warehouse and crushed under the wheels of the
moving train. He was buried in the graveyard at Indian Creek Reformed Church,
in the lot adjoining his father's last resting place. It is said that his
funeral was the largest ever attended in that community.
As he did not leave a will, Letters of Administration were issued to his
wife, Elizabeth, and eldest son, Jacob Andrew. He had acquired a considerable
estate during his life. He held a number of shares in the Quakertown and
Sellersville Turnpike, Hilltown and Sellersville Turnpike, North Penn Railroad,
and United States bonds to the value of $11,219.00. In addition, he held a
half interest in the firm of Schwenk & Strassburger. The final account, as
returned to the Orphans' Court at Norristown, PA, by administrators November
11, 1874, showed that the entire estate amounted to $27,676.63.
Elizabeth Schwenk Strassburger's parents and grandparents had been active
and influential members of Keely's church, which stood about a mile distant
from Schwenksville, the same building being used by both the Reformed and
Lutheran congregations. The Schwenks were of the Lutheran faith, and when
this congregation removed their place of worship to Schwenksville, her father,
Abraham Schwenk, lent his aid both personally and financially to the building
of the new Lutheran Church. Later when the Reformed branch of Keely's desired
also to establish a place of worship in the village, Mrs. Strassburger gave
them the ground upon which was erected the Heidelberg Reformed Church, and
later placed in the church a beautiful stained glass window in memory of her
husband. This handsome stone edifice stands on the hill just back of the old
home which, then, as now, faces the main street. After a few years she dis-
posed of her property in Schwenksville and went to live with her daughter,
Mrs. Wilfred L. Stauffer, of Norristown, with whom she remained until her
death on October 11, 1907, in her eighty-seventh year. She was buried in
Riverside Cemetery, Norristown, the Reverends Peter S. Fisher, S. M. K. Huber,
F. Berkemeyer, and Jacob Kuhn officiating at the ceremony, which was con-
ducted in both German and English.
Children of Reuben Y. Strassburger and Elizabeth Ziegler Schwenk:
1. Clara Olivia Strassburger, born November 28, 1847; died 1852, Hilltown,
Bucks Co, PA. Buried Indian Creek Reformed Church, Montgomery Co, PA.
2. Jacob Andrew Strassburger, born October 15, 1851; died February 17, 1910;
married December 15, 1880, Mary J. Beaver, born January 16, 1856; died
Jul 7, 1913.
3. Anna Elizabeth Strassburger, born September 2, 1851; died February 17,
1910; married Benjamin Leidy, born 1851, died July 4, 1896. He was for
many years cashier of the Pennsburg National Bank. Their only child was
Robert Clement Leidy, married but died without issue.
4. John Henry Strassburger, born December 2, 1852; died in infancy.
5. Katherine Augusta Strassburger, born January 18, 1854; died in Phila-
delphia; married September 10, 1878, in Schwenksville, PA, Charles M.
Spare, born August 29, 1849, died January 6, 1918. They settled at
Geneva, NY, where Mr. Spare was General Agent for the Philadelphia
and Reading Rail Road for New York State. Issue:
i. Charles Roscoe Spare, born June 14, 1879.
ii. Reuben Young Spare, born Jun 29, 1882, married January 28, 1914
Marguerite Wettstein and have issue: Betty Spare, born September
26, 1917, and Dorothy Christine Spare, born May 13, 1918.
6. James Strassburger, born September 5, 1855; died May, 1860. Buried
beside his grandfather, Rev. J. A. Strassburger, Indian Creek Reformed
Churchyard.
7. Magdalena Schwenk Strassburger, born October 16, 1858, married
September 7, 1881, at Schwenksville, PA, Wilfred Ludwig Stauffer,
of Norristown, PA, born Jul 28, 1857, Vice President of the James
Lees Company, Bridgeport, PA. Mrs. Stauffer is a member of the
Valley Forge Chapter, Daughters of American Revolution, and was the
instigator, in 1907, of the Valley Forge Marker for the unknown dead.
Children:
i. Wilfred Ludwig Stauffer, born Jul 29, 1883, died January 5, 1885.
ii. Mary Elizabeth Stauffer, born June 11, 1855, married December 14,
1909, John Hyatt Naylor, born 1886, issue: Mary Elizabeth Naylor,
born September 9, 1911; John Hyatt Naylor, born November 24, 1917.
iii. Charles Rodger Stauffer, born April 7, 1887, married August 11,
1911, Florence Rosella Franey, issue: Magdalena Strassburger
Stauffer, born August 16, 1912; Louise Rosella Stauffer, born
February 26, 1916.
iv. Paul Strassburger Stauffer, born February 10, 1889, married
June 30, 1913, Alice Piersol Butz, born January 26, 1889; issue:
Jean Douglass Stauffer, born March 6, 1915.
v. Jacob Kenneth Stauffer, born April 9, 1891, married 1917, Sarah
Meyers, born April 1, 1894; issue: Harriet Elizabeth Stauffer,
born March 11, 1919, died January 31, 1920, Nancy K. Stauffer,
born January 4, 1921.
vi. Wilfred Ludwig Stauffer, Jr, born October 29, 1893, served in
the Great War as Sergeant, 1st Class, Aviation Corp, 77 Aero
Squadron.
Jacob Andrew Strassburger, Esquire, son of Reuben Y. Strassburger and his
wife, Elizabeth Schwenk, was born in Hilltown Township, Bucks County, PA,
October 15, 1849. Receiving his primary education in the public schools, he
later attended the private academy at Quakertown and the Treemount Seminary,
the latter being the famous old school in Norristown of which Dr. John W. Loch
was later head master. He had an ardent desire to enter Yale College and
while at Treemount Seminary, with this end in view, he diligently applied
himself to his studies and made a remarkable record as a student, in every
course attaining averages of 99 percent and standing first in all of his classes.
His mother was a constant aid to him, encouraging him in his wish to enter
Yale, for which he showed his appreciation by a love and devotion which
endured throughout her life. But the father desired his son to enter Ursinus,
the Reformed College, situation at Collegeville within a short distance of his
home at Schwenksville. This decision was no doubt prompted by a question of
expense, which was seemingly unnecessary, for his father was possessed of a
large estate for those days and he could easily have gratified this particular
wish of his son. It should be remembered that the essentials to the future
success of most young men raised in a small community, is to be found in the
broadening influence of new contacts which are, for the most part, obtained at
the larger educational institutions. Association with young men from metro-
politan centers is often of inestimable value. Had this young man been given
this great opportunity in his youth it would, in all probability, have created
in him a confidence in his own fundamental worth and have gone far towards
overcoming a certain shyness of manner due, no doubt, to the environment and
limitations found in the small country village in which he was reared.
Nevertheless, his life proved that one does not need to enter into the
larger fields of work and achieve national prominence in order to fulfill
one's obligation and duty. By his exemplary life and the various activities
in which he was engaged, he became a potent factor in the community in which
destiny had placed him. After all it is the ability of the average young
American to adapt himself to circumstances, which forms the backbone of the
great American nation today.
Jacob Andrew Strassburger graduated with honors from Ursinus College in
1873, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts; and in 1876, the degree of
Master of Arts was conferred upon him. He went to Philadelphia and studied
law under General B. F. Fisher, who had had a notable record in the Civil War
and occupied a high position at the Philadelphia bar. Two years later, Mr.
Strassburger was admitted to the bar in that city and continued to practice
there until 1878, when he removed to Norristown, in order to be in closer
touch with his clients. These consisted largely of the upper county farmers
and old country squires, who immediately recognized his sterling honesty and
general worth. These men, who had accumulated their comfortable farms and
estates through hard labor and toil, were a simple but able people who
demanded a standard of integrity--a quality for which he was noted by both the
bench and his colleagues--and they invariable turned over their affairs to his
honest administration. He soon built up a large general practice and was
solicitor for the Directors of the Poor and for the Clerks of the Court.
He early joined the ranks of the Republican party and soon became a factor
in the Pennsylvania State organization and served on many important county
committees. Throughout his life, his loyalty to his friends, combined with
his assiduity for hard, patient work, made him a valuable asset to the party.
He numbered among his supporters almost the entire Pennsylvania rural popula-
tion of the upper end of the county and with the proverbial horse and buggy
would often, at the request of a candidate, personally canvas the townships,
Franconia, the Salfords, Perkiomen, Skippack, and Towamencin with invariable
success.
In 1892, he entered the National Primary contest in support of James G.
Blaine, Esquire, in the latter's unsuccessful campaign against Benjamin F.
Harrison for President, serving as a delegate from the Seventh Congressional
District of Pennsylvania, at the National Convention in Minneapolis. In 1896,
he was elected District Attorney for Montgomery County by an overwhelming
majority. In the subsequent division of the party, during the Roosevelt
Progressive Movement, he remained a staunch supporter of the regular organiza-
tion and continued to take an active part in the politics of the state.
All through his life he took great interest, together with his friend and
colleague, Joseph Fornance, in the Montgomery County Historical Society,
serving as its treasurer in the Centennial Celebration of the County, 1884,
and in other official capacities. The records of the Society show excellently
prepared treatises of his research work in both local and family history. He
felt a justifiable pride in his own people who, for two hundred years, had
contributed so largely to the upbuilding of his own native State. Through
intermarriage of the various branches of his family, during this long period,
he numbered among his connections most of the prominent families of the
country region in which he was born. Through that institution which has been
so largely responsible in laying the foundation and developing the character
of real Americans, the country church, Mr. Strassburger kept in close touch
with his people, always maintaining active membership in the German Reformed
Church, following his worthy ancestors in its precepts. He was first asso-
ciated with the Indian Creek congregation, so long served by his grandfather,
but upon the erection of the Heidelberg Reformed Church, in Schwenksville, he
transferred his membership to it.
He was a Past Master of Warren Lodge No. 310, Free and Accepted Masons, at
the old village of Trappe, Pennsylvania. There, likewise, is the ancient
church where a number of his ancestors worshipped under the great Muhlenberg,
and where he himself was later married. For fifteen years, he acted as
trustee of his Alma Mater, giving to it his time and services as a lecturer
on constitutional law.
On December 15, 1880, Mr. Strassburger was married by the Rev. J. H. A.
Bomberger, of Trappe, Pennsylvania, to Mary Jane Beaver, the only daughter of
Dr. Ephraim K. Beaver and his wife, Lucy Ann Solliday, of Pennsylvania and
Ohio. Mary Beaver was born January 16, 1856, in Center Point, now Worcester,
Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, where her father was then established in the
practice of medicine. While still an infant in arms, her parents went to
Circleville, Piscataway County, Ohio, this move to the west being influenced
largely by the fact that a number of Mrs. Beaver's relatives had removed to
that part of Ohio from Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, their native place. Here
Dr. Beaver soon built up a large practice, becoming one of the leading physi-
cians of that vicinity. Three years after their removal, September 27, 1859,
Mrs. Beaver died, leaving, besides Mary who was then three and a half years of
age, two sons, Eugene and J. Perry. Dr. Beaver returned to Pennsylvania with
his three motherless children, locating this time at Alburtis, Lehigh County,
where he died July 4, 1862. Bereft of both parents, the little girl, not yet
seven years of age, went to live with her grand aunt, Sarah Ann Kerr Derr,
wife of Franklin Derr, of Norristown, where she was brought up under the
strictest regime, her aunt and uncle being adherents of the old-school
Presbyterian faith. She began her studies at private schools, being for a
time under a Miss Hayman, unto whose excellent care, years later, she con-
fided her own three children. She then entered the Freeland Seminary for
Young Ladies at Collegeville, making her home during this period with her
uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. John Kerr Beaver, of Trappe. It was while
visiting a friend, who lived on the property adjoining the Strassburger home,
in Schwenksville, that she met her future husband, who was then a prosperous
young lawyer with offices in Norristown. After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs.
Strassburger lived for a while in Schwenksville, at the Strassburger home-
stead, but eventually moved to Norristown where they made their permanent
home, and where their three children, Elizabeth, Ralph, and Perry, were born.
Jacob Andrew Strassburger, Esquire, died in Norristown, March 30, 1908, in
his 59th year, and was buried in the Riverside Cemetery.
The only daughter, Elizabeth, had early shown unmistakable musical talent
and having reached a point in her education where it was believed foreign
study alone could round out her truly magnificent voice, Mrs. Strassburger,
with her daughter and younger son, Perry, on October 3, 1900, sailed for
Paris, France, and there, while supervising the education of her son and
daughter, for two years she lived in the most enjoyable surroundings amidst
the musical and artistic folk of the American Colony. The sudden death of her
gifted daughter in January, 1902, brought the Paris visit to an abrupt close;
but the bereaved mother bore up bravely under her great sorrow, returning at
once to this country with her son, Perry. She lived in comparative quiet for
several years, interesting herself in her two boys and their education, but
she ever kept in mind the devoted daughter and her wonderful attainments.
Upon the death of Mr. Strassburger in 1908, the home was broken up and
Mrs. Strassburger spent much of her life thereafter in travel, crossing the
American continent a number of times, as well as making repeated trips to
Europe. In January, 1911, she had sailed on a second Mediterranean cruise,
but one of her friends being taken ill, she returned to America in April, only
to recross the Atlantic with her son, Ralph, to be present at his marriage,
May 11, at West Wickham, County Kent, England, to May Bourne, daughter of
Commodore Frederick Gilbert Bourne, of New York. She returned to America to
attend the wedding of her other son, Perry, to Mary Alice Birchall, daughter
of Warren Randolph Birchall, of Germantown, which took place on June 3rd, at
St. Michael's Church, Germantown. Shortly after this she returned to live in
Florence, Italy, and also spent part of her time with her son in Tours,
France. Mrs. Strassburger took great interest in historical research work,
and contributed frequent letters to the Norristown Herald on interesting
subjects relating to her travels. In April, 1913, in making a return visit
to America, she unfortunately became very ill and entered the Chestnut Hill
Hospital to undergo an operation, from the effects of which she did not
recover, and on Monday morning, July 7, 1913, died. The eldest son, Ralph,
was at the time in Europe, but being notified of his mother's death, he
started at once on the long and sorrowful journey homeward. The funeral
services were held at the home of her son, Perry, No. 547 Pelham Road,
Germantown, on Jul 10, the Rev. Thomas R. Beeber, of the First Presbyterian
Church of Norristown, officiating. Her body was laid in the vault at River-
side Cemetery, Norristown, until the arrival of her son from Europe. Ten days
later, in the presence of the sorrowing family and friends, her mortal re-
mains were laid beside those of her beloved husband and daughter in the
family burial plot at Riverside.
Mrs. Strassburger was a lifelong member of the First Presbyterian Church
of Norristown; a member of the Valley Forge Chapter, Daughters of the American
Revolution, through her ancestor John Sallade (Solliday), and for one term its
treasurer; with her husband, a charter member of the Ersine Tennis Club.
Chief among the elements making up the character of Mary Beaver Strass-
burger was her unselfish devotion to her children. She ever labored for the
advancement of her family, and toiled side by side with her husband, carefully
saving and patiently planning. A woman of dominant and virile personality,
she possessed a natural ability to make and hold friends. In her home, in her
travels, and in her temporary abiding places she drew about her circles of
charming and intellectual people. She was a rare hostess and in conversation
brilliant. She spoke French and German passably well and her writings, though
infrequent, show a clear style, a grasp of subject and vocabulary, widened by
a lifetime of careful study. Her life was lived for others and her unselfish-
ness was her greatest merit.
Children of Jacob Andrew Strassburger and Mary J. Beaver:
1. Elizabeth Beaver Strassburger, eldest child and only daughter of Jacob
Andrew and Mary J. Beaver Strassburger, was born in Norristown, PA,
October 23, 1881; died in Paris, France, January 11, 1902. She was
baptized June 3, 1892, by the Rev. Thomas R. Beeber and admitted as a
member of the First Presbyterian Church, Norristown, June 2, 1897. She
was laid to rest in the family lot, in Riverside Cemetery, Norristown, PA.
2. Ralph Beaver Strassburger, born March 26, 1883; married May 11, 1911,
May Bourne (see below.)
3. Perry Beaver Strassburger, younger son of Jacob Andrew and Mary J. Beaver
Strassburger, was born in Norristown, PA, August 6, 1888, and baptized
May 5, 1889, by Rev. Thomas R. Beeber, pastor of the church of his
mother, First Presbyterian of Norristown. He was married at St. Michael's
Church, Germantown, June 3, 1911, by the Rev. Arnold H. Hord, to Mary
Alice Birchall, born September 20, 1886, daughter of Warren Randolph
Birchall and his wife Emma Susanna Scatchard, of Germantown, PA. Mr.
Strassburger attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he remained
until shortly after his father's death. After leaving college, he took a
position with the Wall Street Journal and was later connected with the
Philadelphia News Bureau prior to his entering the banking house of E. B.
Smith & Company of Philadelphia. He later was connected with the National
City Company, New York, and Kissel, Kinnicutt & Company, Bankers, New York
City, NY. He left this latter firm to accept a position with the American
Express Company as the General Manager of their Securities Department. In
1922 he resided in Montclair, NJ. Issue:
i. Betty Heap Strassburger, born June 15, 1912, baptized November 4,
1912 at St. Michael's Church, Germantown, PA.
ii. Susanne Strassburger, born March 3, 1914, baptized July 9, 1916 at
St. Thomas' Church, Whitemarsh, PA.
iii. Beaver Strassburger, born November 10, 1915, baptized July 9, 1916
at St. Thomas' Church, Whitemarsh, PA.
Ralph Beaver Strassburger, publisher and newspaper owner, eldest son of
Jacob Andrew Strassburger and his wife, Mary Jane Beaver, was born in Norris-
town, Pennsylvania, March 26, 1883, and although baptized September 9th of the
same year by the Rev. Thomas R. Beeber, pastor of the church of his mother,
the First Presbyterian Church of Norristown, he has followed the creed of his
father, the old German Reformed faith. His father was a member of the Re-
formed Church of Schwenksville and his great-grandfather was for forty years
a minister at Indian Creek, Tohickon, and other Reformed congregations in
Montgomery and Bucks Counties.
He received his preliminary education in the public and private schools of
Norristown, graduating from the high school in 1899. He then studied at
Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire, for two years. In 1901, Mr.
Strassburger was appointed to the United States Naval Academy by the Hon.
I. P. Wanger, from his home district, now the Eighth Congressional District of
Pennsylvania. Upon his graduation from Annapolis in 1905, he was ordered to
sea, having the honor of being chosen to serve under Rear Admiral W. B.
Brownson, United States Navy, the former Superintendent at the Naval Academy.
His vessel was the new flagship of the armored cruiser squadron, the U.S.S.
West Virginia. After two years at sea, he received promotion to the rank of
Ensign. He next saw service on the U.S. Battleship Connecticut, under com-
mand of Admiral Robley D. Evans, and was attached to the Presidential yacht
Mayflower of the United States Navy, in 1907, during the incumbency of the
late Theodore Roosevelt. Ensign Strassburger also served on the fast scout
cruiser Birmingham during the conduct of the competitive engineering tests
between the United States Cruiser Salem and the U.S.S. Chester.
In 1909, after eight years' service, he left the Navy to accept a position
in the marine department of the Babcock & Wilcox Company, manufacturers of
most of the steam boilers installed for the American, English and Italian
navies, as well as for the navies of Brazil, Argentina, and several smaller
nations.
On May 11, 1911, Mr. Strassburger was married by the Rev. H. Bertie
Roberts, at the Church of St. John the Divine, West Wickham, County Kent,
England, to May Bourne, daughter of Commodore Frederick G. Bourne and his
wife, Emma Sparks Keeler, of New York. Commodore Bourne was born December 20,
1851, and died March 9, 1919. He was President of the Singer Manufacturing
Company and resided on his beautiful estate at Oakdale, Long Island.
At the outbreak of the Balkan War, in 1913, Mr. Strassburger entered the
diplomatic service and, after passing the required examination, was appointed
by President Taft as Consul General and Secretary of Legation to Romania,
Bulgaria, and Serbia. Following this, he was promoted to the post of Second
Secretary of the Embassy at Tokyo, Japan. Upon the accession of the Demo-
cratic Party to political supremacy with the election of Woodrow Wilson as
President, he retired from the foreign service after the appointment of
William J. Bryan as Secretary of State.
Always active and influential in Republican politics, Mr. Strassburger has
been prominent as an ardent party supporter and follower of the regular Repub-
lican State organization. In 1914, he was a candidate for the United States
House of Representatives in the Republican primaries, but was defeated by
Hon. Henry W. Watson by a slight majority.
In 1914, immediately after the outbreak of the European War, he foresaw
that the ultimate position that America would occupy would be either that she
would be forced into the great conflict or else be compelled to take extreme
protective measures. Being a strong believer that the best defensive method
for America to assume would be the building up and the strengthening of the
Navy rather than the forming of a large Army, he joined the Navy League.
Shortly he was elected to the Board of Directors and became a member of the
Executive Committee of that Board. The Navy League was more or less a social
organization at the time of his entrance into it, but in a short space of
time he collected a large amount of money from his friends in New York, and
at a famous luncheon given at the down town club, $20,000 was subscribed for
an educational campaign. This was really the starting of the Preparedness
movement. At that time, the Preparedness idea had not been much thought of,
and none of the numerous societies which sprang up later, such as the
National Security League and the American Defense Society, were even in
existence and the fundamental work which was carried on was against the
violent opposition of the Carnegie Peace Society, and it was necessary to
literally force the news items into the papers throughout the country. The
work which had been done by the Carnegie Peace Society had borne fruit and
a popular song at that time was "I did not Raise My Boy to be a Soldier."
These efforts of Mr. Strassburger, who was much younger than his col-
leagues, were in opposition to the views of certain older members of the
Board; but in the dispute which subsequently arose, Mr. Strassburger won
out after a bitter contest. He was also instrumental in the suggesting and
calling of a committee to formulate plans for the association of Reserve
Officers of the Navy, which afterwards grew into the great organization which
furnished the reserve officers during America's participation in the war. As
early as February, 1917, at the time of the rupture of diplomatic relations
between this country and Germany, he immediately offered his services to the
Navy Department at Washington, and was assigned to the U.S. Naval Intelligence
Division. He also saw service on the Overseas Transport Louisville, and later
was assigned to special duty in connection with the Fourth Naval District. He
received a letter of commendation from the Secretary of the Navy for his ser-
vices during the war.
Mr. Strassburger's estate, Normandy Farm, at Franklinville, Gwynedd
Valley, PA, is one of the most extensive in the state, comprising nearly
one thousand acres, and over thirty houses and barns, one of the latter
being five hundred feet in length. The farm is devoted chiefly to the
raising of thoroughbreds and hunting horses (1922.)
Mr. Strassburger is the owner and publisher of the Norristown Herald,
one of the oldest dailies in the State of Pennsylvania, having been founded
in 1799. There have been but four or five owners of this paper during its
123 years of existence. It is one of the best known dailies in the country
and is renowned for its conservative editorials and its support of the
principles of the Republican Party.
Children of Ralph Beaver Strassburger and May Bourne:
1. A son, born October 16, 1913, died at birth.
2. Johann Andreas Peter Strassburger, born January 3, 1916, named for his
great-great-great-great grandfather, Johann Andreas Strassburger, the
pioneer ancestor who came to this country from Ober Ingelheim, Germany,
in 1742.